Customer Reviews

Station X: Decoding Nazi Secrets

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having already read a few books on the work at Bletchley Park (Station X) and attended talks by those that worked at BP I was perhaps hoping for too much from this text. It appears to be a rehash of much of the work already published in better texts. It is certainly not as dry as some books on this subject instead focusing on the personalities, rather than the efforts that went into the decryption work.

If you want a populist review on what took place at BP then this is probably a good text. However if you want to understand more about the critical importance of the work undertaken at Station X this is not the text to give that information. I was hoping for more in depth discussion with events set in their historical context however this was not the case.

The narrative style is quite disturbing at first, however it is a very light read and can be completed in an afternoon. The procedures for selecting staff to work at BP is quite interesting and amusing in itself, just try completing the crossword provided in less than twelve minutes!

If you really want to get a more in depth feel of the events at BP then Codebreakers : The Inside Story of Bletchley Park by F. H. Hinsley & Alan Stripp maybe a better read. If you want a good fictional view then try Enigma by Robert Harris.

The subject matter originally attracted me to this selection, as secret codes have always interested me...but this holds alot more...you not only gain an understanding of what was done, but you get to feel like you were a part of it! The problem solvers are as engaging as the solutions are fascinating. Liked this enough that I'm buying another as a gift.

There should never be any shortage of admiration for the work done by BP's codebreakers and staffers -- a great majority of them being women. Michael Smith's book on Bletchley Park is a collection of fun facts, historical highlights, and occasionally dense information on wartime codebreaking methods. It makes for untidy reading and indicates the storytelling of someone who's been too immersed in the story to really understand how to distill it for general consumption anymore. That said, I still found the book enjoyable, and I'm all the more motivated to find out more.

Having high expectations for Station X, I was disappointed with the lack of historical analysis and the absence of decent discussion of Blechley Park. The book is a series of anecdotes that are often irrelevant or historically inaccurate.

Upon fuller review of the book, it is acutely apparent that this text has more in common with a "pop tv show" than actual information about an interesting chapter in cryptography and cryptoanalysis. Overall rating is poor.

Better books:

Cryptonomicon The Code Book